


Can I Help You?

by subtlenerd



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: M/M, One Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-01
Updated: 2018-04-01
Packaged: 2019-04-16 13:57:09
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,757
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14166369
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/subtlenerd/pseuds/subtlenerd
Summary: Jeno really wants to know the name of the cute boy from the other school.





	Can I Help You?

**Author's Note:**

> based off the manhua Tamen De Gushi

Jeno is running away from Mark, who looks just about ready to kill him, when Jeno suddenly stops in front of a convenience store.

  
“Hey Mark, I know you’re very resilient on like burying me alive, but I’m tired let’s get some snacks.”

  
Mark stops to catch his breath, and for a second he looks like he’s contemplating letting Jeno off the hook, but he eventually gives in and Jeno and Mark enter the store. They walk up and down a few aisles making sure to buy something that a couple of broke high schoolers can afford.

  
Jeno suddenly sneaks up on Mark and surprises him by dragging him to a corner, where they don’t look suspicious at all.

  
“Mark, dude, bro, who is that,” Mark looks to see where Jeno is very subtly pointing to, and he spots a guy about the same age as them wearing a different school uniform from theirs.

  
“I don’t know. They seem to be from a different school, though. Why?”

  
“I’m going to get his number,” Jeno states, very boldly for a guy who can never hold a conversation with anybody he’s ever had a crush on. For a guy with extraordinary looks, he doesn’t really date as much.

  
‘Maybe because he’s too stupid to date,’ Mark thinks in his head. Mark then realizes that before he can stop Jeno from doing anything stupid, he’s already striding towards the guy.

  
Jeno stops before him and the guy smiles at him, probably curious as to why a stranger would come up to him. Jeno begins to wonder that too as his brain short-circuits and his face begins to feel incredibly warm. Before he can mess it up even more, Jeno quickly walks back to Mark.

  
“You didn’t get his number did you?”  
Jeno doesn’t say anything and just puts his head down, thinking about what he should get for his drink.

  
“Tell me you at least got his name.”

  
Jeno stays silent again, already feeling Mark’s disappointment seep through him.

  
“Then why did you bother going over to him?!”

  
“You don’t get it! The second he smiled at me my mind went blank! He’s so pretty Mark, what should I do,” Jeno pouts, looking like a dejected puppy. Mark sighs feeling a little sad for his friend, but not enough to forget where they were.

  
“Stop pouting, we’re in public. Be emo when we get back to your apartment and watch t.v, while we eat the snacks we’re supposed to be buying.”

  
Jeno caves in and they both start walking towards his apartment, on the walk home Jeno makes the resolution that he’s going to get the cute guy’s number.

  
The next day Jeno makes sure to make his hair look extra nice before walking to the store, hoping to see mystery guy again. Jeno looks around the little shop pretending to consider buying a bag of chips or maybe some candy, he can’t fake make up his mind. The store bell rings approximately ten times before Jeno starts to give up on waiting for mystery boy to show up. The little bit of false hope he gets everytime he hears the rings gets really tiring after a while.

The day after is the same as the day before and he’s starting to wonder if maybe mystery boy visiting that shop was a one time thing.

  
The next morning, Jeno decides that he’s not going to visit the shop anymore. He arrives at school with frown on his face, Mark seems to notice this and asks him about it.

  
“Hey dude, you look awful. What’s got you so gloomy?”

  
“Shop Boy hasn’t gone to the store in two days. Do you think he might be sick? Or maybe him visiting that place was only a one time thing, and I never get to see him again?”

  
“Maybe he’s just avoiding you. You did walk up to him, turn as red as a tomato, and then walk away without saying a word. Even you’ve got to admit that someone might find that a bit scary.”

  
“I didn’t even get to say a sentence to him! There’s no way he should be scared of me!”

  
“Think about it Jeno. A random guy comes up to you , doesn’t say shit, and runs away. Again, you looked like a tomato.”

  
Jeno does think about it and since he can’t deny anything he puts his head down in his desk, feeling defeated once again.

  
“What’s up with Jeno? He seems like one of the extras for a zombie movie,” Renjun asks, probably feigning concern.

  
“He got dumped by some guy,” Mark answers, sipping on his carton milk, not caring if his best friend is going through a seriously hard time. Jeno decides right then and there to give Mark packets of green tea for his birthday.

  
“Really? I got just the thing for you,” Renjun grabs his backpack and starts digging around, throwing stuff on his desk as he searches through the confines of his backpack. Jeno gets interested and decides to pick his head up from the desk.

  
When Renjun finally finds what he’s been looking for, Jeno sees it and automatically puts his head back down.

  
“It might have like 5 dollars left in it? I’m not really sure,” sure enough, it’s the gift card to some random cafe he’s been trying to get rid of for months. Jeno denies his generous offer and for the rest of the school day his mind wanders. Not particularly just on Mystery Boy, but sometimes just on random choreography he could practice after school.

  
When class ends, Jeno sees that his notes on dividing rationals are filled with his plans on how to woo Mystery Boy. He reminds himself to get the homework from Mark and starts heading towards the dance rooms.

  
When Jeno reaches the dance rooms ,with Jisung and Mark, he tries to take his mind off his tragic love life. Jeno is attempting to memorize the choreography to a recent video he saw on Jaden Smith’s Icon, when someone barges into the dancing room and he loses his focus.

  
“Jeno! I had some friends from the other school ask about that guy for you. Thankfully you were lovestruck enough to remember his features, or else this would have taken way longer.”

  
“Wow, I can't believe you actually found him,” Jeno says, getting closer to Hyunjin to see what she was pointing at on her phone.

  
“His name is Na Jaemin. He’s a senior like us, and it seems like he doesn’t hang out with much people. It’ll probably be hard to invite him out because of that.”

  
“No worries, I’ll find a way. Thanks again Hyunjin. I’ll treat you to lunch some time.”

  
“Nice, also I sent the conversation to your phone so look forward to that.”  
Mark walks up to Jeno after Hyunjin leaves and starts asking him questions.

  
“Did you finally get his name? How old is he? Were we right about what school he goes to?”

  
“Calm down Mark. It’s not like he’s your crush or anything,” Jeno says while looking down at his phone to read the messages Hyunjin sent him. He quickly looks at the time and starts running towards the exit. “Sorry, Mark. Got to go, if I don’t come back by the time you guys leave just go on without me!”

  
Jeno doesn’t wait to let Mark answer and bolts out of the school gates. Jeno doesn’t even know if the source is reliable and he doesn’t know if he’ll be able to see Jaemin, but it’s worth a shot. Jeno is running so fast he starts to get a little dizzy and he slows down. The second he slows down, when his eyes regain focus, he notices someone who looks like Jaemin a few steps ahead of him. ‘Here goes nothing,’ Jeno thinks.

  
“Na Jaemin!”

  
Jaemin turns back and Jeno attempts to catch his breath, but before he can get a full sentence in, Jaemin starts walking really quickly away from him. Jeno starts to panic, why would he start running away from him? What has he done to make him do this? Jeno thinks back to what Mark told him. Does Jaemin think he’s a weirdo? Jeno isn’t going to let Jaemin think that, so he does what any normal person would do after being suspected of being a weirdo would do. Jeno runs after Jaemin.

  
“Na Jaemin! My name is Lee Jeno! I’m from NCity High! I’m a senior like you! I love to dance and my grades are fairly good. I’ve seen you at the bus station and I thought, ‘Wow, I really like this guy! Will it be okay to be friends with him?’ I always get nervous ,though, and I don’t know what to say to you! I’m really sorry that i scared you,” Jaemin seems to stop and Jeno continues talking. “Can you give me another chance?”

  
“Can you show me your school ID?”

  
Jeno takes it out quickly and hands it to Jaemin. When he grabs it, Jaemin seems to stifle a laugh and Jeno suddenly gets very embarrassed. This really wasn’t how he imagined meeting Jaemin.

  
“Is my picture really that funny?”

  
“No, no, no. It’s just you were really weird in the beginning. I thought you wanted to beat me up. You came up to me with a red face and you didn’t say anything to me! I thought your veins were going to pop off. When I avoided your route, you came and chased me down. How would you feel if that happened to you?”

  
‘Ah, so that’s what it looked like from another person’s perspective,’ Jeno thinks. No wonder he tried to avoid him.

  
“Wow, now that I’m talking to you I’m really nervous,” Jeno says all of a sudden.

  
“No need to be nervous! I don’t bite.”

  
“Um, I see you’re holding some bags. It looks like a lot. Can I help you carry some?”

  
“It’s okay, they’re really not that heavy.”

  
“Ah, well, I was hoping I could talk to you a little bit more. If that’s alright with you?”

  
Jaemin seems to smile at this and when he nods, Jeno releases a breath he didn’t know he was holding.

  
“Here, you can carry this one.”

  
“Okay,” Jeno grabs the bag before Jaemin can change his mind and they both start to walk. They talk about miscellaneous stuff while walking, and Jeno can’t help but blush the entire way to Jaemin’s place.


End file.
